Means for use in the laying of ordnance



Jan. -1,. ,1924 1,479,587 A. T. DAWSON ET AL MEANS FOR USE IN THE LAYING OF ORDNA NCE 7 f Filed -0ct. 31 1919 2 sheets-shed 1 Patented Jan. 1, 19 24.

"UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. v

ARTHUR TREYOR DAWSON, GEORGE EDWIN WATT, AND ARTHUR LEONARD; PERHAM,

OF WESTMINSTER, LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSI GNORS TO VICKER-S LIMITED, OF WEST:

mmsrsn, LONDON, ENGLAND.

'Mms non USE IN THE LAYING or ORDNANCE.

Application and October 31,1919. Serial No. 334,736.

To aZZ whom it may concern." Be it known that We, ARTHUR Tnnvo Dawson, 'Gnoncn EDWIN Warr, and'An'rnon LEONARD PERHAM, all subjects of the King.

of Great'Britain, residing at Vickers House, Broadway, Westminster, in the county of London, En land, have invented certain new and use 111 Improvementsin or Relating to Means for Use in the Laying of Ordnance, of which the following is a specification."

This invention relates to means for use in tlie laying of ordinance in elevation in ac cordance with information or indications transmitted from apparatus at a'controlling or sighting station situated at a distance from the gun orguns. The chief object of ,our invention is to eliminate errors in the gun elevation caused by the axis about which the gun is trained. not being truly vertical. In the caseof a group of guns mounted on turntables supported by rollersfrom a roller path, for instance, it is rare for the planes" of the several roller ipaths to be parallel and erences in the gun elethe result is that di vations are caused, the amounts varying at different angles of training or bearing. With a gun on-a turntable on a perfectly level roller path, no variation in its angle of elevation will occur at any angle of tra1npath be tilted, then as the gun is trained towards the raised point its elevation in'- in proportion to the sine'ofthe angle of training as measured from the plane which is norm'al to the plane of the roller path and passing through the axis about which the goller path has been tilted. If the variations'in elevation were plotted .as ordinates spaced equally and numbered in accordance with angles of'training, the resultanticurve wouldbe almosta true sme'curve, and the highest pbint in the curve would indicate the angle of training Where the elevation error dueito the tilt is greatest, Whilst the height of the ordinate at that oint Would represent {according to the S0316 used the amount of-the an 1e atwh'ich the roller path "was-tilted from tl ie horizontal According tothe present invention, We

provide means for correctingthe errors aris- 65 mg from the above stated causes, which means may comprise a crankadapted to rotate in unison with the turntable and to transmit its motion to the elevation indicating apparatusof thegun, the throw of the said crank being capable of adjustment and also its angular relationship with the turntable so that it Will be ,on its dead centres when the gun is at those angles of training at which the elevation error due to the tilt v is a maximum Theseadjustments are made after the tilt errors of the turntable have been measured and plotted to ascertain the amount of the tilt and the angles of trainihg at which the consequent elevation error is. a

maximum. The motion of the pin of the crank is then transmitted by a connecting rod or crosshea'd tothe elevation indicating apparatus. The motion derived from the crank may however be applied by any other I means that is appropriate to theparticular system of control by which the gun is laid in elevation.

errors caused by the tilt of the training axis of the apparatus.

v The invention is described above as comprising an adjustable crank as in general a crank is the most convenient device to adopt,

but any equivalent; mechanism (such as a swash plate) from which a harmonic motion, adjustable in phase relatively to the gun turntable and also adjustable in amount,

can be derived, may be used instead of the 9d crank.

To cause the crank or its equivalent to rotate in unison with the turntable of the gun mounting or other apparatus, any 'form of mechanical gearing may be employed, or 95 the corrector may if desired be set by hand to the angle of training.

Alternatively We may arrange that the corrector'is rotated by an. electric step-by step motor or the like receiving current from a transmitter. This transmitter may be. geared to the training gear ofthe gum! mounting, on the electric motor may 'adapted to Work'Qfi the electrical circuit appertaining to the system of distant 'contro is in use. in order that the said invention inav'be of the gun training in cases where such v i i The invention .18 also applicable to sighting or observing apparatus for correcting 8O elevation or t more clearly understood and-readily carried into effect, the same will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which p igures 1 and 2 are respectively a front elevation and a section taken approximately I on the line 2-2 of Figure 1 shewing a form of apparatus constructed in accordance with our invention.

Figures 3 and 4 illustrate apparatus constructed substantially as shown by Figures 1 and 2 in association with two forms of circle of graduations A representing angles of training or bearing and C is a stationary mark or pointer against which the said graduations can be read. The disc B has an arrow mark B b means of which and the graduations A, the disc can be initially adjusted to the'angle of trainin giving the maximum elevationerror; the isc also has a diametrical. slot 13 for the reception of a sliding block-,or. crank D having a pin D connected ma rod E b which correctional mdvement is given to t e part requiring it.

' This block D is marked with an arrow (1 and the contiguous part of the disc ismarked T of-the instrument in which this casing is with graduations representing different.

ein'g observed that angles of the tilt, it

p when the arrow (1 is opposite the zero graduation the axis of the pm I) and'that of the discB are in alignment. Theblock D is revolved from the training mechanism of the guh turntable, exactly in accordance with the angles of training, by a shaft f carrying a worm-F --which gears with a worm wheel F carried by an axial extension or boss A of the plate A; the block I) is clamped to the disc B and the latterto the plate A by a single central bolt G having a T-shaped head which engages in, a cone spondingly shaped slot formed in the block D. Thus when the disc B has been adjusted to the angle of training or hearing at which the maximum elevation error occurs and the block D has been adjusted to the angle of arts clamped as described" v above, the angu a1 displacement ofthe block D'inumsonwith the training movements of the turntablewill cause the connecting rod E to be displaced in accordance with the amount of correction that is requiredito be :given to the angle of elevation of thegun v Figure 3 shows how apparatus constructed substant ally in accordance with Figures 1 and 2 may be'employed in conjunction with a gun elevation indicating instrument simiassess? lar to am shewn by Figures 7 and s of the drawings of an application for patent filed by us on October 31, 1919; and serially.

numbered 334,735. v In the construction shown by F1 age 3 the crank Doperates through a ink upon a block E slidably mounted in a curved arrowor Zero mark. The crank D, the disc B and the guide for the block E are adjustable by a handwhecl 7' and a worm g, a scale 13 on the fixed part of the instrument shewing the amount of adjustment given.

to i

Figure 4 is a similar view to Figure 3- showing how the correcting apparatuscan be used in conjunction with another form of indicating instrument such as that shown in Figs. 5 and 6 of our said application for patent Serial Number 334,735. Thelcrank D in this case operafestlirougha link E upon a block E which has an arrow or zero mark E and is arranged to move in ,a

curved guide in the fixed part of the instrument; the disc B is carried by the fixed part of the instrument. In the lower portion of the instrument is a worm caring and a handle for operating it to e ect an angular movement of 'thecasing carrying the indicator pointers and the motor foroperating them iii an opening in the frame type as that disclosed in our co cndmg ap plication, Serial No. 403,432, led August 13, 1920. H is the controlling sight and H is the handwheei by which elevating movement is imparted to the sight through gearing eomprisin a wormh, and H is an elevation transmitting switch oerate'd b the handwheel H. K is a shaft rom whic the training niovement of the sight is trans mitted to the disc B and the block I) as de scribed with reference 'iilO Figures 1 and 2.

v The correctional movement given to the mnn'ecting rod E by the pin D of the block D is effected through a levenE" -to shiftthe worm h axially (a sliding connection being provided between the worm spindle and the part operating it) so that the sight receives in addition to the movement in elevation or depression given it by the handwheelv H, a correctional movement in elevation to compensate for'the error caused by the trainin axis of the sight not being, truly vertica Thus in keeping the sight on the target by operating theh andwheel H, the switch in wlll be caused to transmit the correct elevatignto-thereceiving instruments at the gun t to the element and an in ic'ating member moved by the connecting member to indicate a correctionfondivergence from the vertical" of the axis-about which the is rotated in train.

ordnance device 2. In ordnance apparatus, In ordnance elemen't adapted .to be moved in training and inelevation, a member connected to the element to be rotated in accordance with training movements of the element,a connecting device adapted. to be connected to the member at any one of a plurality of positions at different distances from its axis of rotation, and 'a"secondmember which is connectedto and moved by the said connecting device whereby that member is positioned in correspondence with the magnitude. or correction for diver me from the verticsljot theaxis about 7 which the said element rotates inat'ra'ining. 8., Apparatus for use in la a n'subject toerrors dueto the. position 1n train oflthe gun and thedeviation of-thepos t on of the gun from a reference line, comprising an'instrument in accordance with which the un is laid, ade'vicemovable in unison with the training movements'of the gun, means for adjusting the'device in accordance with i ,the deviation ofQthe-positien of the gun from the reference has, means for adjustin the device to agreefwiththe training angeof 7 the gun at which the maximum error occurs and means associated with the device for V nnpar'ting a correctional movement tothe instrument; I i t 4. Apparatus for use in laying a gun subjec'tto. errors. due to the position in train of,

the gun and ths,deviation of the position of I gun from 'a reference line, comprisingan Irument in'accordance with which: the" slaid, a rotary variable-throw devic' 'e, ,for a larly rhovingsaid device in with '-t e training movements of the un, means for adjustin the throw of the er ce in accordance wit the deviation of 00 -th positionof the gun from thereference 'traini axis of the justed position, aconnectin member secured line, means for adjusting the device angw larly to agree with the angle of training of the gun at which the maximum error occurs and means associated withthe device for imparting a correctional movement to the ins'trument. I g 5. Apparatus for use in the laying of ordnance in elevation, comprising a device movable in unison with the training movements of the gun, means for adjusting said device in accordance with the angle by which the n is tilted from the vertica means for a justing said devic'eto agree with the angle of training of the gun at which'the tilt of the training axis causes the maximum error in elevation to; occur and a member which,,when said device'has been adjusted and is moved as stated, will be given a movement corresponding. to the errors in the elevation of the gun at different 39 angles'oi training, due'to the training axis being tilted from the vertical. I 6. Apparatus for use in the laying of ordnance inelevation, comprising an instrument 7 in accordance with-which the gun is elevated, 35 a device movable in unison with the twin- 'in'g movements of the lgun, means for adjusting said device in accordance with the angle In which the traini testis of the gun is t ted fzonnthe vertic df means for ad usting said deviceto agree with the angle oi training of the gun at which the tilt of the train jug-axis causes the maximum error in elevation to occur, and means whercb when said device has been adjusted and 1s moved as stated, a correctional movement will be im parted to said instrument;

7. Apparatus for use. in the laying of ordnancc in elevation, comprisin an instrument in accordance withwhic the n is elevated, a rotary variable-throw evicc, means ,for anglularly moving said device in unison with t e trainin'g movements of the 11, means for adjusting the throw of said:

evice in accordance with-the angle by which the training axisof the gun istilted from the vertical, means for ad usting said device s ngularly. to agree with the angle oftrainmg of the gun at which the tilt of the train- ,inguax is causes the maximum'error in elevation to occur, and means whereby, when said device has been adjusted and is moved as' stated, a correctiona movement will be imf'iarted to said instrument.

Aiirnun T VOR DAWSON.

GE RGE-EDWIN WATT. ARTHUR LEONARD PERHAM.

I nt'estimony whereof we afiix our signstureag i J 7 

